Question

Silven Industries, which manufactures and sells a highly successful line of summer lotions and insect repellents, has decided to diversify in order to stabilize sales throughout the year. A natural area for the company to consider is the production of winter lotions and creams to prevent dry and chapped skin.

After considerable research, a winter products line has been developed. However, Silven’s president has decided to introduce only one of the new products for this coming winter. If the product is a success, further expansion in future years will be initiated.

The product selected (called Chap-Off) is a lip balm that will be sold in a lipstick-type tube. The product will be sold to wholesalers in boxes of 24 tubes for $10 per box. Because of excess capacity, no additional fixed manufacturing overhead costs will be incurred to produce the product. However, a $128,000 charge for fixed manufacturing overhead will be absorbed by the product under the company’s absorption costing system.

Using the estimated sales and production of 160,000 boxes of Chap-Off, the Accounting Department has developed the following manufacturing cost per box:

Direct material	$	4.50
Direct labor		2.80
Manufacturing overhead		2.00
Total cost	$	9.30

The costs above relate to making both the lip balm and the tube that contains it. As an alternative to making the tubes for Chap-Off, Silven has approached a supplier to discuss the possibility of buying the tubes. The purchase price of the supplier's empty tubes would be $1.40 per box of 24 tubes. If Silven Industries stops making the tubes and buys them from the outside supplier, its direct labor and variable manufacturing overhead costs per box of Chap-Off would be reduced by 10% and its direct materials costs would be reduced by 20%.

Required:

1. If Silven buys its tubes from the outside supplier, how much of its own Chap-Off manufacturing costs per box will it be able to avoid? (Hint: You need to separate the manufacturing overhead of $2.00 per box that is shown above into its variable and fixed components to derive the correct answer.)

2. What is the financial advantage (disadvantage) per box of Chap-Off if Silven buys its tubes from the outside supplier?

3. What is the financial advantage (disadvantage) in total (not per box) if Silven buys 160,000 boxes of tubes from the outside supplier?

4. Should Silven Industries make or buy the tubes?

5. What is the maximum price that Silven should be willing to pay the outside supplier for a box of 24 tubes?

6. Instead of sales of 160,000 boxes of tubes, revised estimates show a sales volume of 197,000 boxes of tubes. At this higher sales volume, Silven would need to rent extra equipment at a cost of $57,000 per year to make the additional 37,000 boxes of tubes. Assuming that the outside supplier will not accept an order for less than 197,000 boxes of tubes, what is the financial advantage (disadvantage) in total (not per box) if Silven buys 197,000 boxes of tubes from the outside supplier? Given this new information, should Silven Industries make or buy the tubes?

7. Refer to the data in (6) above. Assume that the outside supplier will accept an order of any size for the tubes at a price of $1.40 per box. How many boxes of tubes should Silven make? How many boxes of tubes should it buy from the outside supplier?

Answer 1

ANSWER:1) MANUFACTURING OVERHEADS FOR 1 BOX OR 24 TUBES = $2.00(GIVEN)

FIXED COST ALLOCATED FOR 160,000 BOXES = $128,000(GIVEN)

PER BOX FIXED COST ($128,000/160,000)=0.80

THEREFORE PER BOX VARIABLE COST=(2.00-.80)=$1.20

SAVINGS IN MANUFACTURING COST

  

	COST PER BOX	%SAVINGS IF TUBE BOUGHT	SAVED AMOUNT
DIRECT MATERIAL	$4.50	20	$0.90
DIRECT LABOUR	$2.80	10	$0.28
VARIABLE MANUFACTURONG OVERHEADS	$1.20	10	$0.12
TOTAL AMOUNT SAVED			$1.30

2.

	IF TUBE IS MADE	IF TUBE IS PURCHASED
DIRECT MATERIAL	$4.50	$3.60
PURCHASE OF TUBE BOX		$1.40
DIRECT MATERIAL	$2.80	$2.52
VARIABLE MANUFACTURING COST	$1.20	$1.08
TOTAL COST PER BOX	$8.50	$8.60

THEREFORE A DISADVANTAGE OF ($8.50-$8.60)=$.10 PER BOX

3.A FINANCIAL DISADVANTAGE OF $16,000(160,000*.10) IF BOX PURCHASED FROM OUTSIDE SUPPLIER

4.COMPANY AT DISADVANTAGE IF IT BUYS TUBE BOX FROM SUPPLIER BETTER TO MAKE IT BECAUSE COST OF MAKING BOX IN HOUSE IS CHEAPER THAN TO PURCHASE FROM SUPPLIER AS SEEN FROM ABOVE SOLUTION(2)

5.THE MAXIMUM PRICE THAT SILVEN SHOULD AGREE TO PAY SHALL NOT EXCEED $1.30($1.40-($8.60-$8.50)) PER BOX

6.

	COST PER BOX		MAKE	BUY
	MAKE	BUY	197,000 BOXES OF TUBES
DIRECT MATERIAL	$4.50	$3.60	$886,500	$709,200
PURCHASE OF BOX		$1.40		$275,800
DIRECT LABOUR	$2.80	$2.52	$551,600	$496,440
VARIABLE MANUFACTURING COST	$1.20	$1.08	$236,400	$212,760
EXTRA RENT COST			$57,000
TOTAL COSTS			$1,731,500	$1,694,200

SO IT IS BETTER TO BUY BOXES IF SALES VOLUME IS 191,000 BOXES

NOTE:FIXED MANUFACTURING OVERHEADS ARE EXCLUDED SINCE THEY WILL BE SAME EITHER SILVEN MAKES TUBE BOXES OR BUYS FROM SUPPLIER, IF YOU WANT TO SHOW YOU CAN SHOW IT

7.SILVEN SHOULD MAKE 160,000 BOXES SINCE AFTER THAT IT SHOULD BUY FROM OUTSIDE SUPPLIER BECAUSE AFTER 160,000 BOXES SILVEN WILL INCUR AN ADDITIONAL FIXED COST OF $57,000 PER YEAR EVEN IF IT MAKES ADDITIONAL 1 BOX AFTER 160,000 CAPACITY . THEREFORE IT WILL BE BETTER TO BUY FROM OUTSIDE ABOVE 160,000 VOLUME OF BOXES

UNTIL THE MINIMUM QUANTITY TO BE MADE TO RECOVER ADDITIONAL FIXED COSTS=$57,000/$0.10=570,000 BOXES ARE MADE IN HOUSE